Annular port construction for valve applications

ABSTRACT

A body element for a spool valve is provided that includes a body having an inner surface that defines an internal valving chamber having a longitudinal axis, and at least one transverse surface to the longitudinal axis. The transverse surface has at least one port comprising an annular flow passage, an intermediate flow passage and an outer flow passage extending outward from and in fluid communication with the inner surface of the internal valving chamber.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/804,432, filed Mar. 19, 2004 now U.S. Pat No. 6,976,506.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to valves, and in particular to structure formingthe internal porting in spool valves. In a spool valve, the valvingaction takes place between a movable element, sometimes called a spool,plunger or slider, and a fixed port in the side wall of the spoolchamber in the valve body. In the particular type of spool valves towhich this invention relates, the porting is in the form of an annulargap or groove that extends circumferentially around the entire side wallof the chamber in which the spool slides. An O-ring or other flexiblesealing member or gasket mounted on the spool is shifted, by spoolmovement, from a position on one side of the port or gap, across theport to the other side.

This type of valving has been referred to as “across-the-gap” valving,because the sealing member on the spool moves across the fixed gap orport in the body. An example of such valving is shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,819,152, in which a flexible sealing member on a movable spool valvesthe flow of fluid through a port in the form of a narrow annular gapextending circumferentially around the spool chamber. The port is formedby a stack of three interfitting elements having complex shapes,including a pair of annular elements having opposed circular internaledges that form the respective edges of the port, and an annular locatorwhich spaces the two port edge-forming elements apart and at the sametime aligns them axially.

The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present valvedevices. Thus it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide analternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations setforth above. Accordingly, an alternative annular port construction forvalve applications is provided including the features more fullydisclosed hereinafter

SUMMARY

According to the present invention, a body element for a spool valve isprovided that includes a body having an inner surface that defines aninternal valving chamber having a longitudinal axis, and at least onetransverse surface to the longitudinal axis. The transverse surface hasat least one port comprising an annular flow passage, an intermediateflow passage and an outer flow passage extending outward from and influid communication with the inner surface of the internal valvingchamber.

The foregoing and other aspects will become apparent from the followingdetailed description of the invention when considered in conjunctionwith accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a plunger and a manifold bodywith valve port-performing elements in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention shown detailed description.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the valve port-performing elements and plungerassembled into the manifold body of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line “3—3” in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the annular portbounded by the dashed line in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which like reference numbers refer to like parts. It isemphasized that, according to common practice, the various dimensions ofthe component parts as shown in the drawings are not to scale and havebeen enlarged for clarity.

The valve port-forming construction of this invention is suitable foruse in many different types and configurations of spool valves. Forpurposes of explanation, and without intending to limit the environmentor utility of the invention, the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1–4as a three-way pneumatic spool valve having a spool 5 disposed in aninternal valving chamber 4 of a manifold body 55 having fluidinlet/outlet ports 60, 61, and 62 connected therewith. As shown in FIGS.1 and 3, the three-way valve has an annular port which includes an innerannular flow passage 1, an intermediate annular groove 2, and an outerflow passage 3 which are formed in accordance with the invention anddescribed in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the components that form the annularport of the assembled three-way valve shown in FIG. 3 which include aspacer element 20 stacked between cylindrical body elements 10. Eachbody element 10 is annular and has a cylindrical inner surface eachhaving the same diameter such that when elements 10 are coaxiallystacked, their inner surface provide portions of the valve side wallwhich define internal valving chamber 4. As shown in FIG. 1, radiallyoutwardly opening fluid channels 51 are formed around each body element10, which are connected to the internal valving chamber 4 in bodyelements 10 by openings or passages 59 located in fluid channels 51.Additional channels located on both sides of each fluid channel 51 areprovided in which O-rings 54 are retained. As described hereinafter indetail, body elements 10 are spaced apart by spacer element 20, which isa shim element in the form of a substantially flat ring.

Body elements 10 have transverse surfaces 12, into which intermediateannular grooves 2 are molded or machined such that when oriented to faceone another, form an intermediate flow passage. Moving radially inwardfrom and in fluid communication with the intermediate flow passage is anannular flow passage 1, which extends circumferentially around thecylindrical, inner side wall surface that defines internal valvingchamber 4. Annular flow passage 1 is the annular gap 30 created betweenthe transverse surfaces 12 when body elements 10 are maintained in aspaced apart relationship by spacer element 20 as shown in FIGS. 3 and4. As will be observed from FIG. 4, the width of annular flow passage isdefined by the thickness of spacer element 20 disposed between bodyelements 10. Although each of the inner edges of the transverse surfaces12 adjacent the annular flow passage 1 are shown flat, they may beprovided with a radius or chamfer to facilitate smooth movement of anO-ring 7 of spool 5 past it.

Moving radially outward from and in fluid communication with theintermediate flow chamber formed by intermediate annular grooves 2, areouter flow passages 3 that are molded or machined into the transversesurfaces 12 of body elements 10. Outer flow passages 3 may be in theform of slits or notches that are located at spaced intervals in theouter edges of transverse surfaces 12 to be stacked against spacerelement 20. These slits or notches may be positioned radially outwardfrom the longitudinal axis of body elements 10 or otherwise located suchthat fluid communication is established between the internal valvingchamber 4 and the intermediate annular groove 2. In this manner, portscomprising the annular flow passage, the intermediate flow passage, andthe outer flow passage sequentially establish fluid communicationbetween internal valving chamber 4 and fluid inlet/outlet ports 60, 61,and 62.

The spool 5 that coacts with the respective ports to valve the flow offluid is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 disposed and axially shiftablewithin internal valving chamber 4 to selectively valve the flow of fluidtherethrough. A plurality of grooves are formed around its externalsurface which contain a series of flexible sealing members comprisingO-rings 6, 7, and 8 that cooperate with and seal against the internalvalving chamber 4 as shown. A recess 9 may also be included forinserting a spring to provide a spring-return construction. As shown inFIG. 3 and the detailed exploded view of FIG. 4, as spool 5reciprocates, O-ring 7 cooperates with the annular flow passage 1 toprovide “across-the-gap” valving by alternately shifting the spoolsections between O-rings 6 and 7 and between O-rings 7 and 8 in and outof communication with annular flow passage 1.

Manifold body 55 holds the respective elements of the valve, includingbody elements 10 and spacer element 20, in stacked, assembled relation.Upon reciprocating movement of spool 5, inlet/outlet ports 61 and 62provided in manifold body 55 selectively communicate with inner annularflow passage 1 via fluid channels 51 and internal valving chamber 4 asshown in FIG. 3, thereby selectively interconnecting the inlet/outletports 61 and 62 to inlet/outlet port 60 to alternately direct fluid flowtherebetween.

Assembly of the valve according to the present invention is achieved bysimply stacking the body elements 10 on opposite sides of spacer element20 in manifold body 55. As described above, the spacer element 20 spacesthe transverse surfaces 12 of the body elements 10 apart by a precisedimension while manifold body 55 aligns the body elements 10concentrically so that they form a cylinder of uniform diameter.

The cylindrical body elements 10 according to the present invention maybe made of conventional materials such as polymers such as nylon ormetals such as stainless steel or brass and using conventionalmanufacturing techniques such as molding and machining to produce thefinal forms described above. In the case of polymer materials, injectionmolding may be used to substantially reduce or eliminate the need forany final machining. In the case of metallic materials, powdermetallurgical molding methods may be used to simplify manufacture andsubstantially reduce or eliminate the need for any final machining.

The spacer elements 20 according to the present invention may be made ofconventional materials such as polymers such as nylon or metals such asstainless steel or brass and using conventional manufacturing techniquessuch as molding and machining to produce the final forms describedabove. In the case of polymer materials, injection molding may be usedto substantially reduce or eliminate the need for any final machining.In the case of metallic materials, powder metallurgical molding methodsor die stamping of sheet stock material may be used to used to simplifymanufacture and substantially reduce or eliminate the need for any finalmachining.

As described above and as shown, body element 10 is asymmetrical about atransverse plane through its axial midpoint, with one half having aport-forming transverse surface 12 from which an annular port is formed.It is contemplated that the invention can be used in valves having alarger number of annular ports than the single annular port shown. It isto be understood that a multiport valve having any number of additionalannular ports may be accomplished by incorporating additionalcylindrical elements having port-forming edges provided on both halvesof each element and stacking the requisite number of such elementsbetween cylindrical body elements 10, until the desired number of portsis obtained.

It is understood, therefore, that the invention is capable ofmodification and therefore is not to be limited to the precise detailsset forth. Rather, various modifications may be made in the detailswithin the scope and range of equivalents of the claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

1. A valve comprising: a manifold defining a chamber and having an inletfor receiving fluid and an outlet for dispensing the fluid; a first bodypositioned in the chamber and having a notched face; a second bodypositioned in the chamber and having a notched face; and a spacer havinga first side adjacent to the notched face of the first body and a secondside adjacent to the notched face of the second body, the notched faceof the first body, the first side of the spacer, and the notched face ofthe second body at least partially defining a flow path selectivelyfluidly connecting the inlet and the outlet.
 2. The valve of claim 1,further comprising a spool supported in the manifold for reciprocatingmovement through the chamber to control fluid flow along the flow path.3. The valve of claim 2, wherein the spool defines an axis, wherein aplurality of notches extend radially across the notched face of thefirst body, and wherein a notch extends circumferentially around atleast a portion of the notched face of the second body.
 4. The valve ofclaim 3, wherein the flow path extends through at least one of theplurality of notches of the first body and the notch of the second body.5. The valve of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of notchesformed in the notched face of the first body, at least one of theplurality of notches being a recess in the face of the first bodyforming a flow passage.
 6. The valve of claim 1, wherein the first bodyincludes an inner edge and an outer edge, and further comprising aplurality of notches formed in the notched face of the first valve bodyand extending inwardly across the notched face of the first valve bodyfrom the outer edge and stopping short of the inner edge.
 7. The valveof claim 1, wherein the manifold defines a second outlet, and whereinthe flow path selectively fluidly connects the inlet and the firstoutlet and the inlet and the second outlet.
 8. The valve of claim 1,wherein the spacer is substantially ring shaped and includes a centralopening, and wherein the flow path extends through the opening in thespacer.
 9. A valve comprising: a manifold defining a chamber and havingan inlet for receiving fluid and an outlet for dispensing the fluid; afirst body positioned in the chamber and having a face, a first notchextending across at least a portion of the face of the first body; and asecond body positioned in the chamber and having a generally circularface, the face of the second body being retained in a spacedrelationship from the face of the first body, a second notch extendingcircumferentially around at least a portion of the face of the secondbody, the first notch and the second notch at least partially defining aflow path selectively fluidly connecting the inlet and the outlet. 10.The valve of claim 9, further comprising a spacer having a first sideadjacent to the face of the first body and a second side adjacent to theface of the second body, and wherein the flow path extends across atleast a portion of the first side of the spacer.
 11. The valve of claim9, further comprising a spool supported in the manifold forreciprocating movement through the chamber to control fluid flow alongthe flow path.
 12. The valve of claim 9, wherein the first and secondnotches are recesses forming flow passages.
 13. The valve of claim 9,wherein the second body includes an outer edge, and wherein the face ofthe second body includes a plurality of radial notches extending fromthe second notch to the outer edge of the face of the second body. 14.The valve of claim 9, wherein the manifold defines a second outlet, andwherein the flow path selectively fluidly connects the inlet and thefirst outlet and the inlet and the second outlet.
 15. The valve of claim10, wherein the spacer includes a central opening, and wherein the flowpath extends through the opening in the spacer.
 16. A method ofassembling a valve, the method comprising the acts of: providing amanifold substantially enclosing a chamber and having an inlet and anoutlet; inserting a first body into the chamber, the first body having aface; forming a notch on the face of the first body; inserting a secondbody into the chamber, the second body having a face; forming a notch onthe face of the second body; inserting a spacer into the chamber betweenthe face of the first body and the face of the second body; and forminga flow path extending through the notch on the face of the first body,across the spacer, and through the notch on the face of the second body,the flow path selectively fluidly connecting the inlet and the outlet.